Evangelist or Apostle

Entry

The identity of this barefoot evangelist or apostle is unclear.¹ In 1971, De Werd linked this piece to a second sculpture in the Rijksmuseum that bears numerous similarities (BK-NM-1200).² Both oak sculptures are hollowed out on the reverse, have virtually the same dimensions, and stand on similar polygonal grounds. Both as well originated from the Bridgettine convent of Maria Refugie in Uden. Since De Werd’s assertion, they have generally been viewed as pendants or works belonging to the same series. When observing the marked stylistic differences between the two, however, this conclusion at first seems unlikely.³ Van Liebergen convincingly linked the present figure to the rather reserved sculpture of the Rhine region, specifically, production in the north of the Duchy of Brabant, while placing the more expressive, almost mannerist Evangelist in the vicinity of Kalkar.⁴

The fanning, sweeping arrangement of the drapery folds on this latter work are highly reminiscent of those found on several sculptures produced by Henrik Douverman (c. 1490-1543/44), including the St John the Evangelist of circa 1510 in the Sankt-Mariä Himmelfährt in Cleves, and especially his St John the Baptist of shortly after 1530 in the Sankt-Nicolaïkirche in Kalkar,⁵ which indeed lends support to a Lower Rhenish origin. While stating that the two sculptures could not have come from the same workshop, Van Liebergen believed they may very well have belonged to the same series. The history of the Bridgettine monastic community in Uden, housed until 1713 in the abbey Mariënwater near Koudewater, offers one possible explanation for this circumstance: this northern Brabantine abbey was in direct contact with its daughter monastic community Marienbaum near Xanten, itself dissolved in 1802.⁶ An exchange of sculptures or a collaboration between sculptors might have led to a situation in which two components of the same group were executed in disparate regional styles.

In addition to these two sculptures, Koldeweij introduced a third figure that he believed was part of the same series.⁷ Preserved in the Museum Mayer van den Bergh in Antwerp, this sculpture is of Netherlandish origin and has been tentatively identified as St Luke (fig. a). While the execution of the garment folds also differs here, several noticeable parallels can be observed in the furrowed face, the high jawline, the form of the robe with the belt worn high above the waist, as well as the figure’s pose, with the forward-bent knee. Such similarities, however, are generic in nature and fail to adequately convey a shared destination or purpose.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024